Electoral dispersal: will Joe Biden increase his chances of being elected amid unrest in the US

Former US vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made a public statement condemning Donald Trump’s actions during the ongoing unrest in the country.

Biden said the United States needed a leader, and promised, if elected, not to "fan the flame of hatred."

Biden's speech took place in Philadelphia, where protests against police arbitrariness escalated into riots and violent riots.

In his speech, he drew attention to the speech of Trump in the church near the White House. At the same time, he called the protesters there "peaceful."

“When peaceful protesters, on the orders of the president, are dispersed from the threshold of the people's house, the White House, using tear gas and stun grenades to organize a photo shoot at a noble church, we can forgive us for believing that the president is more interested in power than principles,” said Joe Biden

This was the first public appearance of the former vice president outside his home state of Delaware in the last few months, where he was isolated due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Joe Biden will use the rioting situation as an opportunity to make Donald Trump an incompetent and authoritarian president, said Konstantin Blokhin, senior researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT.

“Undoubtedly, the current situation plays into the hands of the Democrats - now they connect the internal deplorable situation in the United States with the activities of the Trump administration, as the riots were stratified by the economic downturn caused by coronavirus. If all the Americans put an end to the pandemic at the Democrats, including Joe Biden, and Trump looked like the absolute leader, then the riots in the USA now give Biden a big chance, ”the expert explained.

US President Donald Trump responded to Biden’s criticism by accusing him of political weakness and the absence of any real results for his nearly half-century political career.

“Sleepy Joe has been in politics for 40 years, but he has done nothing. Now he is pretending to have answers. But he does not even know the questions. Weakness will not help cope with anarchists, looters and bandits, and Joe has shown political weakness all his life. LAW AND ORDER! ”, Trump wrote on his Twitter.

Sleepy Joe has been in politics for 40 years, and did nothing. Now he pretends to have the answers. He doesn't even know the questions. Weakness will never beat anarchists, looters or thugs, and Joe has been politically weak all of his life. LAW & ORDER!

Protest wave

Recall that in the United States, large-scale protests against police brutality against African Americans have been ongoing for more than a week. The unrest that turned into pogroms and riots began after the death of 46-year-old African American George Floyd, who was arrested on May 25 in Minneapolis.

A video of the detention of Floyd by the police after trying to pay a fake bill in the store was published on social networks. In the video, a white policeman presses Floyd with his knee to the ground, pressing hard on his neck. The man complained several times about the lack of air, and then lost consciousness. He later died in intensive care.

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• © Brendan McDermid

Almost half of the population in Minneapolis is made up of African Americans who took to the protests after publishing a video and news of Floyd’s death during detention. Soon, Black Lives Matter activists across the country joined them.

Despite the fact that the police were fired, and Officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed Floyd's neck, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder, the unrest did not stop.

Protests soon escalated into riots, which are accompanied by pogroms, looting and arson.

According to the Associated Press, over 9,000 people were arrested for the entire duration of ongoing demonstrations. In 29 states, the authorities had to attract more than 20 thousand soldiers of the US National Guard to maintain order.

According to media reports, 12 people were killed in the riots.

Election factor

Donald Trump on June 2 threatened to suppress the riots with the help of the military, introducing regular troops into American cities.

“I will mobilize all the resources available to the federal government, both civilian and military, to stop protests and looting, put an end to routs and arsons and protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including the rights guaranteed by the second amendment (to the US Constitution. -  RT ) ", Trump promised.

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• © Tom Brenner

A senior White House official told the Associated Press that in fact, Donald Trump is in no hurry to involve the army in suppressing the riots and his goal is to force the governors to engage the National Guard on a larger scale.

Unlike the Guards, regular army soldiers are subordinate to the federal authorities of the United States, and their involvement in such power actions is a unique case of centralization of power, rare in modern American history.

Experts believe that the situation with the riots will be used by American political forces to strengthen their positions in the election race. Indeed, despite the protests, preparations for the upcoming electoral cycle continue in the United States. During the riots in nine states and the metropolitan District of Colubmia, presidential primaries were passed.

Joe Biden, the de facto presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, enlisted the support of several hundred more party delegates who must formally approve his candidacy at the upcoming party congress in August. The victory in the presidential primaries of the Republican Party is also won by Donald Trump - on June 2, he won the primary in the states of Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Konstantin Blokhin noted that the situation in 1992 may now be repeated for the US Democratic Party - then the ill-treatment of police officers with a black resident of Los Angeles led to widespread unrest and prevented the re-election of Republican George W. Bush for a second term.

“The Democratic Party wants to achieve just such a result, so the Democrats will criticize every step of Trump and try to provoke him to use force. If he goes for it, the Democrats will call him a bloody dictator, a despot. In the event that he does not use force, they will call him a weakling, ”the expert explained.

Such riots negatively affect the image and the chances of Trump to be re-elected for a second term, Konstantin Blokhin believes.

“Today, Trump’s rating is falling, and Biden is growing. However, this situation also negatively affects the Democratic Party. The democratic electorate looks at the work of the local Democratic authorities and understands that they are ineffective managers, managers and leaders, because they cannot provide them with stability, ”the political scientist noted.

In an interview with RT, HSE professor Alexander Domrin believes current events are conducive to the consolidation of Trump supporters among Republicans.

“Trump is now trying to restore law and order. This strengthens his position, because the Americans are really faced with a situation where they need to protect their country from looters, ”said the political scientist.